To Love A Monster
by KinshuTsukino
Summary: AU - Luna Lovegood is given the mission to go back in time and befriend a boy before he becomes a monster.  Can she manage to befriend such a person?  If she succeeds, more than Tom Riddle's Soul will be saved from certain destruction.
1. Preface

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything relating to Harry Potter. I'm only responsible for the situational story presented here.

Author's Note: This is the first time that I've written anything quite this complicated so please go easy on me. Also, please no flaming of any kind for it is rude and uncalled for.

Preface

Skipping down the hall as usual, Luna Lovegood's long beautiful dirty blonde hair bounced behind her small skipping form. She just got settled in for her fourth year at Hogwarts when she had been summoned to the Headmaster's Office. After making a few more turns down some more hallways she finally found herself in front of the statue that guarded Dumbledore's office. Luna, with a dreamy look upon her face, lightly said the password, "Pop Rocks." The griffon statue opened and Luna proceeded up to the main door giving it a knock.

"Come in Ms. Lovegood," Dumbledore's voice was gentle.

Luna practically danced her way into the office and swiftly sat down in the cushy chair in front of Dumbledore's desk. Her wispy voice rang like a bell, "You wished to see me, Headmaster?"

Dumbledore stood up, grabbed a small silver necklace from his desk and walked around his desk before handing the silver necklace to Luna, "Do you know what that is, Ms. Lovegood?"

Turning the silver pendent around in her hands, chain falling freely over her hand Luna answered softly, "This is a time-turner. But why is it silver? I thought they were gold?"

The old wizard's expression was serious, "Ms. Lovegood, that is an enhanced time-turner. It has been set to only travel back and forth between two specific times," Dumbledore knelt down so that he was eye level with Luna, "This time-turner is now yours. But only if you agree to do the difficult task that I'm about to ask of you."

Surprisingly, a small smile formed on Luna's face, "I like challenges. What do you need me to do?"

The twinkle seemed to leave the Headmaster's eyes and that began to worry Luna, "I'm asking that you go on a mission into the past. If you succeed, you will be responsible for completely changing our world. If you fail, nothing will change."

Luna's eyebrows knitted together in mild confusion, "What do you mean? What must I do?"

To Luna's relief, the twinkle came back at the acceptance from Luna that she was willing to take on the mission, "You are to go back in time to the year 1942. Once there, you will need to find a boy who will be one year older than you are by the name of Tom Riddle. Today, that boy is known as Lord Voldemort."

At hearing this bit of information, Luna didn't gasp like a normal person would. No, instead she tilted her head to the side and had a pleasant smile on her face, "Is he really? That's fascinating."

Dumbledore smiled, "And that, Ms. Lovegood, is why I chose you for this task," he continued with his explanation of the mission at hand, "Once you have found Mr. Riddle, you will need to befriend him. Voldemort has never known how to care about another human being. He never had any real friends. Ms Lovegood, I want you to go back in time to befriend this boy so that you might save the entire wizarding world from certain terror and mass murder."

Nodding slowly, Luna looked thoughtful, "What year will Tom Riddle be in if I go back to 1942?"

"He will be a fifth year. Please note, Ms. Lovegood, that I chose that year because it is still before he has killed anyone. His soul is still intact. If we can save this boy from a future of darkness, then we can save our world from the same fate," the old wizard sounded tired but hopeful.

Luna looked down at the silver time-turner in her pale hands. Finally, after staring down at it for about five straight silent minutes, Luna looked up into Dumbledore's twinkling eyes, "I'll do it," that dreamy smile graced her lips, "it sounds like fascinating fun."

Nodding, Dumbledore stood up, "All you must do is put it on and turn it once," he grabbed a letter from his desk and handed it to Luna who happily received it, "and would you kindly give this to my past self? I can assure you that I will understand the circumstances," a hopeful expression filled the old wise wizard's eyes, "I wish you the best of luck, Ms. Lovegood."

As usual, being dreamy and thoughtful with a peaceful look upon her face, Luna slipped the pretty time-turner's chain around her neck, "Thank you, Headmaster," she turned the device once.

Then, just as quickly as she turned the small hourglass, Luna disappeared from her time of 1995 and began her adventure into 1942.


	2. Luna in Pastland

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns everything Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 1 – Luna In Past-land

The rabbit hole - that's exactly what it felt like for Luna as she fell through time. Quick moving images and pictures flew across her eyes for several minutes. After the initial shock, she actually had enough time to gaze wondrously at the blur of color and images around her. All too suddenly, Luna had found herself to be still sitting in the chair that she had been sitting in before she turned the hourglass on the time-turner.

Luckily, the office was empty. Quickly hiding the silver time-turner in her robes, Luna got up and quickly left the office. Just as she left the spiral staircase, she bumped right into a very young looking Dumbledore, "Oh, I'm sorry Sir. I was just going to look for you, actually," her voice was soft and dreamy as usual.

This younger Dumbledore looked confused but he smiled all the same, "Well, hello there. Are you a new student?"

It took Luna a few moments to get out of her dreamy state long enough to hand the young Dumbledore the letter from the older one. His eyes twinkled brightly as he read through the letter, recognizing the handwriting, understanding the contents within. Once he finished, Dumbledore nodded towards her, "I suppose you have a lot of work to do, Ms. Lovegood."

Luna smiled warmly, "I'm so glad that you're able to explain everything so well to yourself through writing."

The still old but young wizard chuckled, "Indeed. However, we will have to make some arrangements for you. We will have to make sure that no one knows where you came from."

A deeply thoughtful look graced Luna's features, "I could be a transfer student from Ireland?"

Dumbledore smiled warmly with the twinkle still in his eye, "You are a very quick thinker, Ms. Lovegood. You are probably a Ravenclaw, yes?"

She nodded faintly, "Yes, Headmaster, I am."

A knowing look was directed toward Luna, "I am the Transfiguration Professor now, Ms. Lovegood. You must address me as Professor, not Headmaster."

Luna looked thoughtful, "Alright. I'll be more careful from now on."

"Good," Dumbledore paused before saying, "you will continue to be in Ravenclaw house. Though you will need to wait for the end of the holiday before you will get to know too many of the students."

Slight confusion, "What do you mean? I thought everyone just got here from the train?"

Now, confusion filled Dumbledore's face as well, "No, Ms. Lovegood. The students who were going home for Christmas Holiday have just left on the train."

Luna blinked a few times in shock before asking, "Is Tom Riddle gone, then?"

Dumbledore gave a small but sad smile, "No. He stays here during his Christmas Holidays. He would rather stay here than go back to the muggle orphanage."

A small sadness bubbled behind Luna's great big eyes, "I see. If you'll excuse me, Sir, I'd like to go find him."

Nodding, Dumbledore stepped aside, "Of course, Ms. Lovegood. I wish you luck with your task."

Skipping along down the hallway, Luna passed no one. Since she had not eaten before she went through time, Luna decided to go to the Great Hall to see if any food was being served. Upon entering the Great Hall, the enchanted ceiling let her know that it was nighttime. The only person that Luna found in the Great Hall was only one boy sitting in the middle of the room with a small bit of food in front of him. A knowing but whimsical smile graced her features as Luna skipped toward the boy sitting at the table by himself.

Tom Riddle looked up from his plate in time to see a girl peak her head into the Great Hall. She was a girl that he'd never seen before, a curious looking girl, a beautiful girl with long slightly dirty blonde hair. His eyes narrowed as she skipped down the aisle of the tables coming right toward him. Once she was in front of him, he frowned slightly, "Who are you? I've never seen you here before."

A dreamy look was plastered onto Luna's face, "I'm Luna Lovegood. I just transferred here from Ireland," her voice was soft and sweet.

Dark eyes widened with interest, "Oh really? Have you been sorted yet, Lovegood?"

"Luna," she corrected, "I'm in Ravenclaw. What house are you in?"

Tom tilted his head a bit to the side, eyes scanning Luna like a piece of meat, "I'm in Slytherin."

She kept standing and nodded slowly, probably due to her dreamy state, "That's nice. So, what is your name?"

"Tom," he answered before realizing something odd about the girl in front of him, "You…why aren't you blinking?"

Realizing that she hadn't done that in awhile, Luna blinked slowly, "Sorry. I tend to do that. May I sit with you?"

Tom nodded stiffly and Luna sat down. Instantly, food appeared in front of Luna and she tucked in, eating her food slowly and delicately. This did not go unnoticed by the set of dark and cold eyes next to her.

After finishing a bite of his food, Tom questioned on, "Why did you come here now? Why not wait until after the holiday? Don't you have a family?"

Luna had to think quickly, "My father wanted me to get familiar with the school before I started classes."

Scoffing, Tom finished off the food on his plate and stood up, "If you wish to lie to me about why you're here then I will simply leave. I don't have time to waste on little lying Ravenclaws," he turned his back to walk away before Luna reached out and grabbed the sleeve of his robes.

"Wait!"

Tom glanced over his shoulder at her, eyes blazing with anger and annoyance. No one had grabbed his school robes before, "What?"

Standing up slowly, Luna walked around to face Tom face to face. They both then realized the height difference for she only came up to his shoulder. Her voice sounded sad and guilty, "I'm sorry. My father really did want me to come here to get to know the place. But he also didn't want me to be in the house alone. He's gone to Australia to visit family."

Crossing his arms over his chest, Tom continued his glare, "Why didn't you go with him?"

She simply answered, "I didn't want to go. I don't like the heat there."

Tom continued to glare for a few more moments, thinking about this strange girl in front of him. Finally, he softened his gaze, "Fine. I believe you. But don't expect me to be friendly to you just because you're new here," and with that, Tom left the Great Hall.

Luna stood there, looking a little put out before shrugging, sitting back down and finishing up her dinner. Once she was done, she decided to have a look around the rest of the castle, "I wonder if anything is different here?"

First, Luna decided to check out the library. Nothing too different there aside from the books looking slightly less damaged. She kept making her way around a good portion of the castle before she finally made it outside. It was already pitch black out and rather cold. Luna inhaled the beautiful night air before stepping away from the front steps of Hogwarts and aimed herself towards the Forbidden Forest.

As she walked by some stray trees a bit away from the edge of the forest itself, cold dark eyes spotted her small almost glowing form skipping by. Tom had been sitting against a tree looking out at the lake when Luna went cheerily by. It made him want to vomit.

How could she be so cheery? She was alone in a new place with no one but herself and he wasn't about to be friends with her. He never associated himself with anyone like this girl before and he wasn't about to start now.

Tom tried to go back to staring out at the lake…but failed miserably as his attention was then brought back to the strange and mysterious girl when she began to hum. Sighing and feeling very defeated, Tom turned his head back around just in time to see pale moonlit hair disappearing out of sight into the forest.

Dark eyes widened, "Why is she-" he whispered to himself as he got up and ran after the girl, cursing to himself, "Stupid girl! I bet she's a mudblood or something."

Ignorant to the boy who had begun to follow her, Luna continued to skip into the forest until she made it into a familiar clearing. A pleased smile found its way to her lips, 'It was here even in this time,' she thought to herself.

Hidden behind a tree, Tom saw the strange girl just standing in the middle of the clearing, looking like she found an old friend. Staring at her, knowing that she had no idea that he was there made him smile wickedly. He was about to show this girl why she should fear him when he saw her lift her hand up and began to pet…nothing?

Luna smiled warmly as a thestral came up to her and bowed its head to her. Lifting her hand, she began to gently stroke the top of its head. The thestral bumped her face with its nose and she giggled lightly. All of a sudden the thestral twitched, raised its head up and looked around. The sound of a twig snapping caught Luna's attention.

Looking around, Luna spotted Tom Riddle eyeing her from behind a tree. The thestral whined then ran away. Only problem with this: it ran towards Tom. Realizing all too late that Tom couldn't see the thestral, Luna yelled, "Tom!" before he was knocked to the side and was slammed up against the giant tree that he had been hiding behind with a sickening thwack before falling to the ground on his back.

Running and collapsing on her knees at his side, Luna quickly took out her wand and calmly began to examine Tom for any serious injuries. After a minute or so she came to the conclusion that he wasn't too badly hurt, a few bruises here and there but the only serious injury was the hit to the head.

Lifting a hand slowly to his head, a pained expression on his face, Tom slowly opened up his eyes and the first thing he saw shocked him. If Tom didn't know any better he would've thought that he was staring into an angelic being. Pale skin and the long wavy blond hair cascading down around her face and shoulders and those silvery eyes that seemed to hold so much worry but still had a calming element to them. Tom blinked a few times thinking to himself, 'Merlin, I must be delirious. I'm hallucinating.'

Ever so slowly, Luna brushed some of his black hair out of his face, speaking softly, "Tom? Can you hear me?"

Tom blinked a few more times before shutting his eyes tightly. A pain coming from the back of his head had spread all the way to the front causing the place right behind his eyes to hurt. His voice came out in a painful whisper, "Yes, I can," wincing from the steadily increasing pain, he added, "why do you sound familiar?"

Tilting her head to the side, Luna replied dreamily, "I'm Luna, of course. You know, from Ireland," she said it very matter-of-factly.

The girl's aloof attitude caused Tom to do something that he hadn't done in years – laugh, "You are, by far, the strangest person that I've ever come across."

Luna merely smiled in response before saying softly, "Can you get up? We should get you back to the castle."

With Luna's help, Tom was able to get to his feet. Tom, who had one arm around Luna's shoulders and his other hand holding his head stole a glance at Luna's face before staring back ahead. His voice came out in a whisper, "Why are you helping me? I was rude to you."

Thinking for a moment, Luna replied dreamily, "Because you're not all bad. Just misunderstood. Sometimes being cruel to others is just another way of shutting out the people who may want to harm you."

Raising an eyebrow, Tom looked full on at Luna while they slowly made their way back to the castle, "What do you mean by that?" he sounded curious but there was an underlying tone of frustration.

"Just that if I were to be mean to someone in the hopes that they would leave me alone, it would be because people have harmed me in the past. Being mean to others is just another way to protect yourself," the dreamy soft tone of her voice made each of her words sound like butterfly wings flapping through the air.

Looking down, Tom began to feel some things that he couldn't quite place for they were emotions that he'd never felt before. Frowning, he realized at least one of these feelings was the feeling of guilt. Not knowing why, Tom hung his head a little before saying softly and almost inaudibly, "Thank you."

Happiness rose from the pit of Luna's stomach and caused her to smile as they slowly walked back to the castle.


	3. Christmas and Ice

Dislcaimer: J.K. Rowling owns all things Harry Potter, not I.

Chapter 2 – Christmas and Ice

Several days went by in comfortable silence between Luna and Tom. Silent because not a single word was spoken to each other but it was strangely comfortable because every time either one was outside of their respective dormitories they always found each other hanging around the same areas. Whenever they ate in the Great Hall they would sit next to each other. When they were in the library, they would sit, reading their books sitting in somewhat close proximity of each other. If they found themselves sitting outside in the newly fallen snow then they would tend to be around the same area, minding their own business.

It wasn't until Christmas Eve when one of them finally broke the silence. Luna was sitting in the Great Hall eating lunch when Tom came through the main doors. He was wearing his normal Slytherin robes with what looked like a rather nice but casual looking suit underneath. Looking up from her food, she waved lightly and he waved back. Once he made it closer to where she was sitting, Luna noticed that Tom had a strange look on his face, as if he were worried or nervous. Deciding to leave it alone, Luna went back to her eating as Tom sat down next to her, his back facing the table.

Luna, being off in her own little world, ate while humming a little tune, slightly moving her head from side to side. Tom was slightly hunched over, a small genuine smile gracing his features, being amused with Luna's normal morning behavior. Chancing a glance, he took note on what Luna wore today: lavender colored knee socks, a slightly dark green skirt that went passed her knees, a light blue blouse with small frills in all the right places, that strange cork necklace that she seemed to wear on a daily basis and those radish earrings. Her slightly dirty blond hair was tied up in a low side ponytail on her right side, hair parted on the left side of her head.

Unfortunately for Tom, he ended up staring with that smile on his face. Luna happened to look over and caught him in the act, "Is there something wrong?" her voice was soft and lulling as usual.

Figuring that he had already been caught in the act, Tom decided that playing it off would be a waste of time. Sitting up, he took out a small green leaf from his pocket and set it on the table next to Luna's plate. Without a single word, Tom stood back up and walked back out of the hall leaving Luna alone.

Tilting her head to the side a bit, Luna looked down at the green leaf that Tom left for her. Reaching out her hand, she attempted to touch it. Right before her fingers made contact, the leaf burst into purple flames. As it burned brightly, Luna continued to watch the transformation before her unfold.

Out from the flames small purple and green butterflies filled the space around her and began circling Luna's head. After a few moments, the butterflies transformed into gold and silver stars and they fell around her, warm on her skin when they made contact. Looking up, Luna found that there were still a few butterflies around. She reached out to them again only to have them all fly in front of her and transform into letters. They spelled out:

_Tomorrow is Christmas_

_This much is true_

_No one is here_

_So there isn't much to do_

_If you feel that you want to_

_I'll be waiting tomorrow_

_Right here_

For you

Luna gained a far away look. She had only been there for about two weeks and most of it was spent in silence with Tom. Yet here was this beautifully delivered message. Unsure of what to think, Luna stood up and walked out of the hall and stayed up in the Ravenclaw common room for the rest of the day.

Little did Luna know, Tom had been peaking through an open crack in the Great Hall doors as his glorified message was being delivered. Once it was done, Tom turned around and walked back down to the dungeons and into the Slytherin common room. Once he made it in there he leaned up against the door and stared at the floor.

For the first time in his life, Tom Riddle felt conflicted. Before this strange girl came to Hogwarts he had every intention of opening the Chamber of Secrets. He had every intention and plan to get rid of all the mudbloods from the school. It was only a week before she got here was when Tom had found out about his ancestry. He expected great things of himself because of it.

But it seemed like the moment that Tom laid eyes on this girl, everything changed. All of a sudden he felt the need to be near her and to be able to see her every day. Where he used to find enjoyment out of other people's pain, he found enjoyment from watching Luna skip down the halls, wear her strange clashing outfits that seemed to fit her so well and to observe her interesting mannerisms such as her humming to herself while she ate. He used to enjoy the thought of causing the people around him to suffer but now all he seemed to want to do was to be the cause of her smiling, which was exactly what he had planned for tomorrow.

Just as he was about to get off the door and proceed to finish his planning for the next day, he ended up just putting his face in his hands, unsure on what he should do now. True, he could just abandon these weak thoughts towards this mysterious girl and continue with his original plan. But…

Tom shook his head and soon found himself sitting on the stone floor of the common room. A flood of emotion suddenly overtook him and he felt something on his face that he hadn't felt since he was a very small child. Taking away his hands from his face he realized that his hands had moisture on them. Bringing a hand up to feel his face, he felt that it was filled with heat. A horrible realization hit him like a brick to the face – he was crying.

Holding himself in a kind of solo hug, Tom stayed hunched over, powerfully hot tears streaming down his pale and handsome face. Small sobs erupting from his throat, his whole body was shaking. Everything seemed so unsure to him now. So many new feelings that he'd never felt before wormed their way into his very soul and for the first time in his life, Tom felt like he had no control over it. He had always believed that these kinds of feelings were weak. But even though he was on the floor of his common room, crying his heart out, shaking like a leaf, Tom felt like he could take on just about anything whenever he was around Luna. Her presence seemed to fill him with a fullness that he'd never felt before. Whenever she was around him, Tom felt like he was being showered with warmth he felt like he had been missing his whole life. For the first time in his life, Tom Riddle felt warmth inside of his once cold shell of a soul. Once he could think straight, he realized that he was, in fact, not crying because he was upset or ill. Tears were still streaming down his face because he had never been so happy in all his life.

When Luna woke up, she found two presents at the foot of her bed. One was from Professor Dumbledore and the second…was from Tom Riddle.

A lovely and dreamy smile fluttered onto Luna's features. Once she stretched, she reached out to the presents and brought them closer to her. She decided to open Professor Dumbledore's present first. After gently removing the paper she lifted up a pair of dark blue wool socks with a small card attached to them that simply read: _From Professor Dumbledore_.

Placing the socks aside, she made a mental note to wear them today. Yawning, Luna picked up the present from Tom. It was in the shape of a small square box the size of the palm of her hand. After taking the paper off, Luna opened the dark blue velvet box to find a silver charm bracelet with green, yellow and blue gemstones sparkling off of it. Luna stared at it in awe for several minutes before putting it on. It seemed to fill her with a lovely warm feeling.

Feeling as if the day was going to be wonderful, Luna got out of bed and got dressed. She wore the dark blue socks from Professor Dumbledore, a light green long sleeved blouse, a slightly bellow knee length royal purple skirt with pleats along with her multicolored converse, usual butterbeer cork necklace and radish earrings. Feeling very satisfied with her appearance, she grabbed her winter school cloak and headed toward the Great Hall at a skip.

Upon waking up, Tom found the same amount of presents at the foot of his bed. He also received socks from Dumbledore but they were a dark green. Tom sighed and grumbled, "If I had a galleon for every pair of socks I receive from that old man-" he trailed off and set the socks aside.

He picked up the gift; not realizing whom it was from. Removing the paper, Tom realized what it was. It was one of his most favorite muggle toys since he was a child. Shaking it up a bit, he watched as the fake snow fell around small moving figures, which happened to be him and Luna standing and walking around the landscape, which happened to be the lakeside of Hogwarts. Reading the packaging to figure out who gave it to him was unnecessary at this point. A gentle and happy expression filled his handsome face.

After setting down the snow globe, Tom got dressed into one of his grey colored casual suits, black shoes and black socks. Before he left his common room, he tossed on his winter school cloak just like Luna had and made his way up to the Great Hall. After all, it would look bad if the one who asked the girl out was late.

When Luna entered the Great Hall, she saw Tom standing next to their usual eating table, holding a single blue rose in his rather shaky hands. A sweet dreamy look took over her features as she skipped down the aisle in between the tables and made her way over to Tom. He looked her up and down and smiled, "Happy Christmas, Luna."

"Happy Christmas, Tom," her voice rang like small silver chimes.

Luna raised her right wrist and smiled warmly, "Thank you for the Christmas present, Tom. I love it."

Color rose into Tom's usually pale cheeks, "You're welcome, Luna. Thank you for your present as well. How did you know that I liked snow globes?"

"I've seen you looking at the ones around the castle. You seemed to take real interest in them," her voice was light and fluffy, much like how her hair seemed. Tom shook his head a little, getting the sappy thought out of his mind.

Luna walked up to Tom until she was about an inch away from him. She looked up into his eyes, bright silver on darkness, her voice soft, quiet and sweet, "Thank you for the message yesterday. It was beautiful."

After attempting to shift his gaze away from her eyes and failing, Tom cleared his throat and held out the rose towards her, "I am pleased that you enjoyed it. I must say I've-," he paused, unsure of what to say, "I've never…I mean to say, I haven't ever-" trailing off, averting his eyes, not knowing what to say, Luna reached out and took a hold of his left hand, holding it gently, "It's okay. I understand, Tom," a wise and knowing smile danced across her features, "So, what are we doing today?"

Tom didn't miss the excited tone hidden under the gentle nature of her voice, "Well," his voice was slightly shaky, "I thought we could go outside?"

That small smile appeared on Luna's face, "That sounds like fun," her voice was pure and lilting. Still holding each other's hands, Tom and Luna made their way to the main front doors of Hogwarts and went outside.

Once outside, they said nothing as Tom led Luna to the edge of the completely frozen lake. Letting go of her hand, Tom bent down to grab at something. Being oblivious, Luna stared out at the lake with a far off dreamy look in her eyes; eyes which were unblinking.

She was brought out of her reverie when Tom gently tugged at her sleeve and spoke, "Luna, can you lift up your right foot?"

For some reason, Luna didn't see how this could be thought of as an odd question, so she simply complied. After a few seconds, Tom spoke again, "Okay, you can put it down now. Can you lift your left foot, now?"

Luna lifted her foot without question. Another few seconds went by, "You can put your foot down," Tom's voice had a hint of amusement in it.

When Luna put her left foot down she realized that her feet felt funny. Finally deciding to see what Tom had done with her feet, she gasped when she looked down. Tom had transfigured her converse into multicolored ice skates. After accepting that her shoes were now skates, Luna moved her gaze to settle on Tom's feet. He had transfigured his black dress shoes into ice skates as well. Luna looked up to Tom's face with a knowing smile, "You're very sweet, Tom."

A small bit of color rose to his cheeks with Luna's statement. Without another word, Tom took Luna's hands and brought her onto the ice of the lake. Now, only holding one hand, they skated side by side in silence until Luna spoke up, "Tom?"

Without looking at her, Tom replied, "Yes, Luna?"

"Are we friends?"

There was a long silence before he responded softly with, "Yes."

"Have you ever had any friends before now?"

They continued to skate. Tom's voice came out cold, sounding like a strange mixture of sadness and anger, "No. I don't really have friends. They just follow me because I scared them into it," his voice softened and he almost sounded like a completely different person, "But you…I like you. You're surprisingly fun to be around. I enjoy spending time with you," Tom paused to swallow before continuing, "I've never been able to say that I've enjoyed someone else's company before. You are…very different from anyone that I've ever met before."

Pleased that she got Tom to open up to her like that, Luna replied, "Thank you, Tom. You know, I've never had very many friends either. Normally, people just avoid me like I have the plague or something," she shrugged nonchalantly, "I think they are just blinded by Wrackspurts, personally."

Tom made a face, "Blinded by _what_?"

"Wrackspurts, "Luna stated, matter-of-factly, "They're invisible creatures that float into your ears and make your brain go fuzzy. I don't have my spectrespects here, but if I did then you could use them to see the Wrackspurts."

Sighing out slowly, Tom shook his head, "You really are a strange person, Luna," he noticed that Luna suddenly looked a bit sad. He quickly caught himself, "I like it. There's never a dull moment with you," Tom made them both stop and he put a hand under her chin and brought her face up to look at him, "I'm happy that you came here to Hogwarts. I can't even remember the last time that I had this much fun," his voice was softly spoken and gentle, "I'm honored to say that you're the first friend that I've ever had."

Luna's small frown turned into, what Tom thought, a beautifully adorable smile, "Thank you, Tom. You know, I think you're my first real friend, too."

They both stayed in this way for a long time. Standing on the ice, Tom's fingers cupping Luna's small and pale chin, both staring into each other's eyes. Finally, Tom broke the gaze and, hand in hand, they continued to skate until darkness fell.


	4. A Birthday Worth Celebrating

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 3 – A Birthday Worth Celebrating

A few more days went by with Tom and Luna co-existing mostly in silence. They would greet each other in the morning; tell each other good night before they would go off to bed and a few words would be said through out the day. Each day was spent in each other's comfortable company.

The day before New Year's Eve, Tom and Luna found themselves resting in the library on a very comfy soft black velvet couch that Tom had transfigured from a couple of chairs and a small pillow. The one to break the silence first was Tom, "Luna?"

"Yes, Tom?" Luna looked up from her book on advanced protection spells.

"When is your birthday?" he sounded genuinely interested.

"September 9th. When's yours?"

Tom looked away from his book on advanced healing spells; his expression was one of slight embarrassment, "Tomorrow."

A simple smile appeared on her face, "That's nice," she went back to reading her book.

Blinking, a small frown found its way onto Tom's face. Feeling rather put out, but somehow not surprised, he went back to reading his book as well.

The next morning, Tom was slow to wake up. As usual, he wasn't looking forward to his birthday. He never got anything except for some kind of clothing item from Professor Dumbledore and he always spent it alone. What was there to look forward to?

Slowly opening his eyes and sitting up, Tom yawned. When he opened his eyes more, he noticed something extremely odd. Rubbing his eyes several times, for he thought that he was hallucinating, he stared, open mouthed at what was at the foot of his bed – several presents.

They were all different sizes. There must have been at least six of them. After looking through them, he figured out that one was from Professor Dumbledore and it suspiciously felt like gloves but the other five were most certainly from Luna and Luna alone.

After yesterday's extremely short conversation in the library, Tom had the impression that Luna didn't care about his birthday. Feeling strange emotions filling him, he reached for Dumbledore's present just so he could open it and be done with it.

"Oh…what a shock. Gloves," rolling his eyes, he set them aside and grabbed for the next present.

It was small, about the size of one of his fingers. Tom tore open the paper to find a small green marble designed pen with a silver snake with blue eyes wrapped around the top half of it. At first, he thought that it was just an ordinary pen but then he realized that the snake's tongue was flicking out of its mouth every so often. He smiled warmly at the gift.

The next present was a bit larger. Once it was freed of the bright yellow paper Tom found himself holding a black photo album. Tom opened it to find a message written in blue ink with very nice handwriting:

_Tom,_

_I thought that since we are each other's first friends that we should have a place to hold our memories of each other. This photo album is for you to hold all of your most precious memories of our new friendship. I'm honored to have you as my first friend, too. Thank you for giving me a chance._

_Happy Birthday, Tom._

_With Love,_

Luna

Tom's eyes filled with tears. Quickly, he rubbed his face to stop them from dripping on the photo album. Gently, he set the album aside and with a shaky hand he grabbed the next gift.

Before opening the third gift from Luna, Tom conjured up a glass of water and gulped it down. If all of her presents to him were going to make him have such reactions then water was going to be needed – lots of it.

Setting the cup down on his nightstand, Tom had to take a double take. There, on his nightstand, was a handmade card made from what looked like ordinary school parchment. Picking it up, he read the front: _Happy Birthday_. That was all it said. However, upon opening it, a bunch of white, yellow, blue, green and purple stars shot up into the air a few feet above Tom's head and began to rain down around him. Tom, however, was unable to take his eyes away from the card. It read as follows:

Happy Birthday Tom!

_I hope your morning is going well. I'll be in the Great Hall having breakfast by the time you read this. Lets do something fun today! See you at breakfast!_

_With Love,_

Luna

Tom smiled and set the card aside. Deciding that he should hurry this up, he unwrapped the third present from the strange and mysterious girl. Staring at the object before him, Tom was a little unsure as to what to do with this present. Inside a cage that stood about a foot and a half tall and about one foot wide was a small dark blue raven. When it opened its mouth the sound that came from it wasn't that of a raven's but that of a dove's coo. Upon hearing the sound of a dove come forth from a raven caused Tom to laugh. Still laughing, Tom set the small cage on his nightstand.

The fourth and fifth presents were as follows: an enchanted bucket that was always filled with Chocolate Frogs (in the packaging with cards) and another snow globe which had the lake as an ice rink with himself and Luna ice skating while holding each other's hands. He loved these presents dearly, but it filled him with sadness to know that he would have to hide them away when school started back up.

Filled with excitement all the same, Tom practically jumped out of bed and threw on some casual clothing. After all, today was his birthday. Normally, he would wear one of his suits but today he threw on a dark gray long sleeved shirt with a turtle neck, black somewhat loose but still formfitting jeans with dark brown combat boots. Over top of his outfit, he threw on his house robes and made his way to the Great Hall.

Upon entering the Great Hall, Tom noticed that Luna was sitting at their normal spot at the table talking to Professor Dumbledore. As Tom got closer, he noticed that the old codger had a camera in his hands. Noticing that Tom was only a few feet away, Dumbledore looked up and smiled, that familiar twinkle in his eye, "Well, good morning, Tom! And Happy Birthday!"

Tom allowed a smile onto his face, "Thank you, Professor. And good morning to you as well," he sat down next to Luna, his back to the table.

Luna turned herself around so that her back was also facing the table. Silver eyes came to meet dark ones, "Good morning, Tom. I hope you're having a good morning today," her voice was soft and feathery.

After Luna spoke, Professor Dumbledore saw something that he thought that he'd never see: Tom gave Luna a look that, to Dumbledore, was a look of complete adoration and gratitude. He also saw that Luna was giving him a very similar look. Without giving a warning, Dumbledore quickly brought the camera up and snapped a photo of them gazing at each other.

At the snapping noise, Tom blinked a few times before handing Professor Dumbledore an annoyed scowl. Luna giggled and took Tom's hand, "I asked Professor Dumbledore to take some pictures for your photo album. I thought we could take a few now and then take a few later this evening. Is that alright?"

Tom sighed, "Well, it doesn't seem like I have much choice now," he glared at Dumbledore again but then shook his head lightly and chuckled, "but yes, it's alright with me."

Looking pleased, Luna smiled warmly and raised a hand and lightly brushed some stray hair out of his face, "You just tossed on clothes and came down here without brushing your hair, didn't you?"

Dark eyes averted their gaze and looked to the side before coming back to her face, "Umm…yeah," he sounded rather embarrassed at being found out.

Luna began giggling once she heard his embarrassed voice. Tom took a hold of her hand near his face and began chuckling with her. Professor Dumbledore too this moment to, again, snap a quick photo of them laughing with each other, Tom holding Luna's hand.

This time, Tom ignored the old man with the camera. Both of them continued to laugh lightly with each other. Once their laughter died down, without another word, they both turned around and began to eat their breakfast. Taking this as a sign to leave, Dumbledore made his way out of the Great Hall.

After they were done eating, Luna turned towards Tom, "Would you like to come with me to the forest?"

Swallowing the last of his food, he replied, "Is this the 'fun thing' that you spoke of in the card?"

Upon hearing Tom speak of the presents that Luna gave him for his birthday for the first time, some color filled Luna's normally pale cheeks. Looking down at her empty plate, she nodded, her blonde hair falling around her face like a veil.

Tilting his head to the side, Tom had that look of adoration on his face again. He lifted his right hand and moved aside Luna's hair and tucked it behind her ear before taking a hold of the left side of her face, bringing her gaze up to meet his, "Thank you for the gifts, Luna. I love them. I've never received birthday presents from a friend before," his voice was almost inaudible and soft.

She smiled, her large silver eyes gazed back at him, filled with an emotion that Tom was unable to identify. Luna pulled away, brushed the rest of her hair out of her face and stood up, "We should be on our way to the forest. Now is their most active time of the day," her voice sounded shaky, but still stuck in that dream-like state.

Tom raised an eyebrow in confusion at the last thing she said. Shrugging and figuring that it was a secret, he got up as well and followed her out of the Great Hall and out into the cold morning air. Curiosity kept raising more and more inside Tom the closer they got to the forest.

Once they entered the forest, Tom reached out and took Luna's hand. She responded by squeezing his hand gently. After walking for about ten minutes or so, they came across the same clearing where Tom had gotten knocked over by some invisible creature. He absentmindedly rubbed the back of his head, "By the way," his eyes were scanning the area, seeing nothing but trees around them, "What were you doing here before?"

She knew exactly what and when he was talking about. Turning around, Luna gave him a beautiful and majestic smile, "I was here visiting some creatures known as Thestrals. Have you ever heard of them?" she honestly wanted to know if he had or not.

Deciding that she wasn't making fun of him, Tom replied confidently, "Yes, I have. They are only able to be seen by individuals who have seen death," he looked around them, realizing what might be surrounding them, "and to those who have seen death, thestrals look like black skeletal versions of horses with bat-like wings," his voice came out with a hint of fear. If it was one thing that Tom didn't like, it was a creature that could sneak up on him.

Noticing his distress, Luna came within half an inch of Tom, placing her free hand on the side of his face, using her thumb to gently stroke his cheek in the area right under his eye, "They're very gentle creatures, Tom. They wont harm you unless they feel threatened. Here," she let go of his face, took his free hand by the wrist and raised it up to the supposed empty space right next to them. To Tom's immense surprise, he felt something under his hand - something leathery and amazingly soft.

Dark eyes were the size of saucers. Not noticing that he was doing it until he was doing it, he let go of Luna's hand and brought it up to feel the head of the thestral that stood before him. Tom couldn't see it, but he could feel it and hear it breathe. Slowly and gently, Tom had his hands feeling the front and top of the thestral's head, then down the long horse-like neck, to the back, to the wings, to the sides of its body until one hand was resting on its back and the other was gently stroking the side of its neck.

The whole time that Tom was getting to know the thestral, Luna began to see Tom in a whole different light. Ever since their first moment here in this very clearing, Luna had been having a hard time remembering that Tom, this boy who was gently caressing a thestral that he could not see, was Lord Voldemort in the future – a monster who would be responsible for the deaths of hundreds of witches and wizards. Gazing at Tom right at that very moment simply made her smile. Imagining that he could and had one day become a psychopathic killer was impossible for her.

Turning his gaze away from the empty but knowingly filled space in front of him, Tom looked at Luna, wonder in his eyes, "Luna…I wish I could see them."

The look on Luna's face turned from one of happiness to one of absolute sadness. Knowing what that look meant right away, Tom left the thestral and found himself holding Luna in an embrace. He spoke softly into her ear, "What's wrong? What did I say?"

Luna took a step away from him and looked Tom in the eyes, "Do you know why I can see them?"

Tom suddenly felt like a real twat, "…You've seen death."

Smiling sadly up at Tom's now guilty looking face, she decided to tell him, "I was nine when my mother died. She really liked to experiment with different spells and one day, one of them went horribly wrong."

He took a step towards her again and had her in his arms once more, "I'm sorry, Luna. The reason why you can see them just didn't click."

Luna shook her head slightly, "Don't worry about it. I do feel bad about it sometimes but I know that I'll see her again someday," she sounded sad but hopeful.

They stood like that for a long time before breaking apart from each other. Luna looked up at Tom, a bright smile on her face, "Would you like to fly on one?"

Tom's expression instantly turned to one of giddy excitement; he couldn't remember the last time he felt like this, "I'd love to!"

Lifting her hands, she seemed to grab a hold of one of the thestrals and in one fluid motion, Luna, to Tom, looked like she was straddling thin air, "Oh, that looks weird."

Giggling, Luna held out her hand without saying anything. Tom eyed Luna sitting in the middle of nothing. Inhaling then exhaling, Tom took Luna's hand and soon found himself to also be straddling thin air, "This is the weirdest thing I've ever seen," he sounded amused.

Luna smiled a bit too mischievously for Tom's liking. But before he could make a comment on the matter, he found himself in movement. He had to take a hold of Luna's waist as he felt them leave the ground and enter into the air. Gasping, Tom had his eyes wide open, taking in the view. The entire school grounds could be seen from where they were now.

They spent about an hour up in the air before finally coming back down to the earth. Once they were both dismounted from the poor tired thestral, Tom all but nearly collapsed against the trunk of, what he suspiciously thought was the same, tree. Luna skipped up next to him and took one of his hands in her own, "Happy Birthday, Tom," as she said it, a loud clock chime rang across the school grounds, letting them know that the new year had just begun.

As Luna looked up into Tom's face, she noticed that he was giving her a look that she'd never seen before. It wasn't a bad look, mind, but it was unfamiliar. Through the darkness, it was hard to tell what exactly his intentions with that look were. His voice broke through the silence, soft but quivering slightly, "Luna. This has been the best birthday that I've ever had."

Luna smiled softly, "I'm happy that I could help," her tone was dreamy as usual.

Tom let go of Luna's hand and placed both of his hands to cup either side of her face, "You didn't just help, you created it. You made this day perfect," his voice seemed to quiver a bit more.

She stared, unblinking, "Tom, are you alright?"

"I've never felt better," his voice was a quivering whisper. All of a sudden, Luna felt something soft and gentle on her lips. It took a few moments for Luna to realize what was going on – Tom Riddle was kissing her.


	5. Love Finds A Way

Disclaimer: J.K. Rowling owns Harry Potter, not me.

Chapter 4 – Love Finds A Way

Tom Riddle was kissing her. Luna's eyes widened for a moment before she closed them, slowly bringing her arms up behind him, hands ultimately resting on his upper back. When she did this, Tom made a sound in the depths of his throat, one of his hands migrating to be entwined in her amazingly long hair and holding onto the back of her head, the other ended up on the middle of her back. Getting lost in the moment, Luna ended up opening her mouth a little, allowing him access. Accepting the invitation, Tom entered her mouth, his senses exploding with sensations that he'd never felt before.

Just as quickly as it started, Tom's eyes popped open and he quickly placed his hands on Luna's shoulders and pulled away somewhat slowly, gasping for air. Both their faces were flushed and Luna's eyes were wider than usual. She spoke, her voice small and breathless, "Tom…"

Still breathing deeply, he kept gazing into Luna's eyes, "Luna…what's happening to me?"

Blinking once, her eyebrows knitted together in scared confusion, "What do you mean?" her voice was still soft and breathy.

Upon hearing the tone of Luna's voice, Tom made his voice sound less harsh, "Please…tell me what you've done to me."

Luna still looked like a scared rabbit, "I don't know what you mean," her voice was shaky and she sounded like she was extremely close to tears.

Closing his eyes, Tom slowly inhaled then exhaled, "If you didn't do anything to me, then why am I feeling this way?" his temper got the better of him, "WHAT IS WRONG WITH ME?"

She jumped and a squeak escaped her lips. Tears began to fall down her pale cheeks, the flushed feeling on her face completely gone. Realizing his mistake, Tom breathed some more before whispering, "I'm sorry, Luna…I shouldn't have yelled at you. I just want to know what this feeling is. I don't know what it is," he sounded like he was a lost broken record.

Trying to calm herself down, Luna hiccupped and attempted to make her breathing steadier. Once she was shaking less, she whispered, "I don't know how you feel. But I know how I feel," her eyes began to gaze at the ground.

Seeing how Luna was acting, a sharp pang of guilt hit Tom with the subtlety of an anvil. His grip on her shoulders loosened significantly. Taking one of his hands away from her shoulders, he cupped her chin and brought her gaze up to meet his. Luna's expression went from fear to concern, "Tom?"

"Luna," he answered back, "what _do_ you feel?" honest curiosity filled his voice.

Without blinking, Luna's large silver eyes gazed into Tom's black ones. She wasn't sure if she could say it for it was still a huge shock to herself. When she came to Tom Riddle's time, she had the mission to be his friend. When she took on this mission, she had no idea that she was going to feel like this. When she turned the silver time-turner, she had no idea that she was going to fall in love.

Finally coming to the conclusion that Tom could take it, she raised a hand to him, running her fingers through his hair before resting her hand on the side of his face. Unconsciously, Tom leaned into it. That was all the encouragement that she needed, "Tom," her voice lacked the very dream-like tone that it usually had; her voice sounded strong, confident and clear, "I love you."

Mouth falling open and eyes widening to the size of galleons, Tom stood there in shock. The realization that 'love' was the feeling that he felt was absolutely astounding to him. After 15 years of life, Tom had never known love. He never knew what it felt like and no one, certainly no one, had ever felt love for him before. Tears began to stream down his face.

Luna continued to hold his face, her thumb wiping away the tears, "Tom," concern was laced into her words, "it's all right if you don't feel the same way. Just know that I-"

"I love you, too," Tom cut her off, his voice coming out in a raspy whisper before leaning in and kissing her once more.

In Tom's head, he had mauled it over. Caring for someone and liking them were, obviously, not weaknesses as he had decided before Christmas. Learning that his feelings were, in fact, love, made everything make more sense. Why he felt the need to be near her all the time, why he wanted nothing more than to have her in his arms all the time, why his chest seemed to burn with a passionate pleasure every time he had any kind of physical contact with her; the list could go on forever. All of these things could only ever add up to one thing – love. It was only after Tom had come to this conclusion was when he had admitted his feelings and kissed her again.

Momentarily, Tom broke the kiss and hovered millimeters away from her mouth when he spoke softly, "I don't know how to love anyone, Luna."

Luna opened her eyes a small bit to see that Tom's eyes were also opened a small amount. She smiled and gave a quick peck on his lips before answering, "I'll just have to teach you then."

They both laughed lightly for a small moment before they both mutually kissed each other, holding each other close in an awkward, but loving embrace.

Waking up a few days later, Tom stretched. He was about to sit up before he realized where he was. Library books met his gaze before he looked down and realized that Luna was snuggled up next to him on the black couch, sleeping with a peaceful look upon her face. Tom smiled as he remembered that he and Luna had spent the last few days just being together. Nothing seemed to really change since they had been spending their whole holiday together anyway but it felt…different some how.

Shifting his position, Tom stayed lying down, playing a little bit with Luna's hair in his fingers. Silver eyes fluttered open, "Good morning, Tom," her voice came out sounding pure and light.

With fingers still entwined in her long hair, he replied softly, "Good morning, Luna."

As Luna stretched, she saw the somewhat sad look behind Tom's eyes. In mid-hug, Luna wrapped her arms around Tom's neck and snuggled close to him, "What's wrong?"

Tom leaned in and buried his face into her hair, breathed, then spoke, "Everyone comes back tomorrow from Christmas Holiday."

Worried, Luna moved so that she could look at Tom in the eyes, "Tom?"

"Yes?" he tiled this head to the side a bit in mild curiosity.

Her voice came out in a small lilting whisper, "Will you still be my friend?"

Taken aback, Tom stayed still with no emotion on his face for a few moments before smiling ever so slightly before leaning down and giving Luna a gentle and loving kiss. After several minutes, he pulled back and rested his forehead on hers, "Of course I will."

A light chiming sound came from Luna's throat and it took Tom a few moments to realize that it was giggling. Luna met his gaze and smiled a gentle smile, "Lets make today count."

With that, she took a hold of Tom's hand and practically dragged him from the Library. As they ran, they passed by Professor Dumbledore who stopped them with a twinkle in his eye, "Well, well, what are you two up to this morning?"

Luna had stopped suddenly right in front of Professor Dumbledore and Tom gently bumped into her as a result. Tom spoke first, "We were headed to the court yard to practice some charm spells, sir."

Professor Dumbledore smiled and nodded then without warning took out his camera and snapped a shot of the two of them holding hands right there in the hallway. Tom glared at the professor, "Was that really necessary?"

The old man laughed, "Of course it was. Another one for the photo album, right Ms. Lovegood?"

Luna giggled lightly and without another word, continued to lead Tom to the front doors of Hogwarts castle.

Once outside, Luna led Tom over to a tree that was on the edge of the still frozen lake. Tom stopped Luna once they reached the tree and pulled her into an embrace, "Luna?"

Returning the hug, Luna nuzzled her face into Tom's chest, "Yes, Tom?"

With his voice shaking, Tom whispered, "I hope that tomorrow goes well. I am almost never seen with anyone other than other Slytherins unless I'm…well, lets just say, I'm not really the nicest person at this school."

Luna stayed silent. Tom continued after a short pause, "Luna…please say something. Please don't hate me."

Luna spoke softly with just a tinge of fear in her voice, "What do you mean, Tom? Won't we still get to be friends?"

Tom sighed, "We can still be friends, Luna, of course…hell, we're more than friends if you ask me but just know that my other 'friends' might not be kind to you," he lifted Luna's chin with his fingers and looked into her steel gray eyes, "Luna, I will do everything that I can to make sure that they leave you alone. If any of them gives you a hard time, you need to tell me, alright?"

Smiling softly, she nodded. Going up on her toes, Luna placed a gentle kiss on his lips briefly before going back down to the height of his shoulder. She giggled a bit, "I'm so short…"

Tom rested his chin on the top of her head and laughed deep from within his throat, "Yeah, I'll say you are."

They both stood there for a good long while, holding each other by the lake. Eventually, they sat down against the tree, Luna's head upon his shoulder and his head upon her head, one hand playing with her hair while the other was holding her hand. Luna stared out over the lake as the sun was setting, "Tom?"

"Yes, Luna?"

Her voice came out quiet and warm, filled with curiosity, "What are we? Our relationship, I mean?"

Tom shrugged his shoulders, "I don't know…I know that other people who act like this are generally in some kind of romantic relationship…"

He took Luna's chin in his fingers again and raised her gaze to look up at him again, "Luna Lovegood, would you like to be my girlfriend?"

Luna's eyes widened and became glossy as if tears were going to fall, "Oh Tom…"

Tom placed a small kiss on her forehead, "Please say yes…please say that you'll let me protect you and be with you. Please let me be the reason for your smile."

Luna could hardly believe what she was hearing. Here this boy, no, this man was, sitting here under this tree, holding her and saying all of these wonderful things. This man who may one day grow up to be a monster who kills for enjoyment and cause absolute chaos throughout the whole Wizarding World. This man…who loved her so much.

Grey eyes looked into black and she smiled, "Yes, as long as you'll let me be the reason for your smile."

They kissed then, a soft, delicate, loving kiss filled with nothing but joy and happiness. Satisfied with the knowledge that he now had a very good reason for threatening anyone who would harm her, Tom took Luna's hands, helped her get up from the snow filled ground and led her back to the castle. Tomorrow was going to be one trial of a day.

A/N: And that's it! ….PSYCH! Yeah, like I'd go this long without an update and NOT give you guys more. Pfft. So, yeah, totally not the end of the chapter yet lol. I'm molding two chapters into one. Also, please don't be mad with me, oh dear readers of mine. I didn't mean to be gone for so long, but you know how it goes – trying to graduate from college and finding a job is a nightmare. Now that I've done BOTH of those things, I'm back! So, here's the next part of the chapter! Enjoy everyone!

The very next day, students flooded into Hogwarts castle, excited to enjoy the feast that would ensue and then the fun hangout time that everyone would get before the next day, which would be filled with classes. Because the tables were laid out by house, Luna and Tom didn't get to sit together for dinner this time. Both were longingly gazing at one another all throughout supper. This wasn't gone unnoticed.

During dinner, Luna gazed dreamily over at Tom from the Ravenclaw table and a couple of Ravenclaw fourth year girls who sat next to Luna nudged her slightly, "So, you're new, right?" said the girl with short black hair.

Luna stayed silent. This aggravated the two girls, and the other one, with long red wavy hair grumbled seemingly under her breath, "I don't know how she got into Ravenclaw…seems pretty dumb to me."

The two girls scooted away from Luna, leaving her at least one person worth of a space on either side of her. Little did the girls know, Luna heard them loud and clear. The dreamy look on her face faded to one of absolute loneliness and sadness. This, also, didn't go unnoticed by a pair of, what were now, warm dark eyes.

At the end of supper, Tom was about to get up and go talk to Luna, see if she wanted to go to the Library and talk about the look that she was giving him when a couple of seventh year Slytherins got up from the table and muscled their way through the retreating crowd of students trying to leave the Great Hall and stopped Luna in her tracks. Both had their arms crossed, "Well, well, well. Looks like we have fresh meat, Sam."

"Looks that way, Greg."

The two rather burly looking Slytherins sneered down at Luna who met their glares with a sad but slightly dreamy and unfocused gaze of her own, "Please let me pass," came her lilting chime of a voice, "I'd like to head to my house now."

"Oh, I think not, little one," Sam, tall with shoulder length blonde hair said this in a deep and dangerous tone.

He got down semi-close to her face and said in the same voice, "If you know what's good for you, you'll be outside in thirty minutes. Close to the edge of the Forbidden Forest."

With that, the two boys turned their backs and headed through the Great Hall's doors. Luna stood there, eyes wide and a rather scared expression on her face. The next thing she knew, her hand was being grabbed by a larger hand than her own and it had a kind warmth to it. She stared into nothing as she was dragged around the corner and underneath one of the stair cases. She didn't even realize who was talking to her until gentle hands were placed on both sides of her face, "Luna? Please talk to me, say something. What did those two say to you? Luna?"

Blinking after not blinking for a very long time made her eyes burn. Luna gasped and immediately, after realizing that it was Tom who held her face so gently, embraced him, holding him tighter than she ever had before, warm tears slowly flowing from her silver eyes, "The blonde one, Sam, I think his name is, wants me to meet him and that other boy over by the edge of the Forbidden Forest. I don't want to, Tom, I don't want to!"

Stroking her hair in a comforting way, Tom murmured into her ear, "Then don't. I'll protect you, Luna, I promise."

Luna swallowed hard and nodded. Very quietly, she whispered, "This is going to be just like how it used to be…"

Tom almost missed what she said…almost, "Pardon?"

Luna looked up at Tom and forced a smile onto her face, "No, don't worry about it. I'm sure this school will be much nicer to me than my last school. At my last school I didn't have you, Tom."

This gave Tom every excuse in the world to lean down and kiss her gently. Deciding to only have a quick kiss for fear of a teacher finding them and taking points away from both their houses, Tom backed away but kept on holding both of Luna's hands. He smiled a great and handsome smile – a genuine smile, "Luna, I wish that we could be in the same classes. You know, if you need any help at all with any of your homework you just need to let me know and I'll be more than happy to help."

Luna smiled and nodded as she wiped away her tears, "Of course, Tom. I know that."

Tom leaned his head down and touched Luna's forehead with his own and whispered, "I….I love you, Luna," the words were still so foreign to him.

Luna blinked away tears of joy, "I love you too, Tom. Have a good night."

"You too."

That night…

The two girls that had tried speaking to Luna at dinner were standing on either side of her bed, grinning at each other. This girl may be new but the thought of someone as dimwitted in their house was like an insult. Something had to be done…

The next morning…

Luna woke up to find a horrible painting on the top of her four-poster bed of a dementor with words written in red, "You will curse the day that you ever came to Hogwarts, Looney"

Luna wanted nothing more than to hide away her face and cry, "Not again…" she whispered.

After getting dressed in her robes and found that her shoes were missing and that her favorite radish earrings were also gone, Luna sighed and made her way down stairs to the Great Hall. A sad look upon her normally cheerful and dreamy face, she walked into the Great Hall and sat at the end of the Ravenclaw table. No one sat anywhere near her.

Tom noticed this and scowled. How could they be so cruel? Tom was punched in the arm by one of the older Slytherins. He turned his head to see that it was one of the boys who had threatened Luna last night. Greg had a cocky grin upon his face, "So, you know anything about the new girl? You were here over holiday, I'm sure you learned something about her."

Tom shrugged not wanting to give them any ammunition against her, "Nope, we hardly spoke."

Greg let out one big hefty laugh, "Oh really? That's not what I hear. From what I understand, you two were seen snogging each other last night under the staircases. You uh…make it a habit to go after the dimwitted ones, eh?"

Tom couldn't contain himself. It had been a long time since he had been so angry that he had performed any kind of wandless magic on accident, not since before he came to Hogwarts but this guy made it impossible for him to hold himself back. He screamed, "Don't you dare call MY Luna DIMWITTED!"

Using both of his hands, Tom made a shoving movement with the intention of shoving Greg as hard as he could when instead, he ended up not only shoving him but sending electric shocks all throughout Greg's body. Students screamed around Tom as he looked at his hands in shock. He had never felt so strong before when facing against bullying from the older students. Never had he done something like this. And to be honest, it frightened him a little.

Students flooded away from the Slytherin table while all the professors including one blonde haired student, came running towards Tom and the now unconscious Greg. Tom's breathing was coming out in short gasps. A gentle hand was touching his arm and it was this physical contact that brought Tom out of his shocked state. His dark scared eyes gazed into steely concerned ones, "Luna, what did I-"

Luna took his arm in her hands and led him away from Greg and over to sit down so that his back was to Greg's body on the ground, "Tom, what happened? Why did you attack him like that?"

Tom looked into Luna's sad and concerned face and gave a determined and brave face, "He called you a dimwit," he turned his gaze to look down at the floor, making his beautiful dark slightly long hair cover his eyes, "and I know for a fact that you are anything but a dimwit."

Gentle hands stroked Tom's hair from his eyes, "You stood up for me?"

Her voice came out with shocked surprise. No one had ever stood up for her before.

Tom nodded, "Of course I did. We agreed that we were together, right? And now…I'm sure that the whole school knows this fact."

Luna's giggling chimed like silver bells, "Yes, you did scream that I was 'your Luna'."

A tinge of pink came to Tom's face as he continued to stare at the ground as if something very interesting was down there. Luna smiled and was about to say something more when Professor Dumbledore came up to them and addressed Tom, "Tom Riddle, explain yourself right now. Why did you feel the need to lose control of your magical abilities like that? You almost killed that boy!"

Both Luna and Tom had never seen Professor Dumbledore so angry. Luna took a hold of one of Tom's hands and gave him a comforting squeeze. Tom swallowed and looked up into Professor Dumbledore's blue eyes with a determined gaze, "I am terribly sorry, Professor. I was sitting, minding my own business and eating my breakfast when Mr. Thompson asked me if I would only screw the dimwitted girls in my school after addressing Ms. Lovegood, here, directly in conversation. I do apologize to you, Professor, for what I did, but I refuse to ever apologize to him."

Professor Dumbledore looked at Tom over the top of his half-moon spectacles, "Did you mean to electrocute the boy, Tom?"

He shook his head and told the truth, "I meant to simply push him and yell at him, I did not mean to lose control like that, sir."

With a nod, Professor Dumbledore turned back toward the other professors and explained the conversation that he just had with Tom. Headmaster Dippit nodded to the two students, "You two may leave now to your houses. Tom Riddle, I'm taking away fifty points from Slytherin for this and you are to serve detention tomorrow evening with Professor Dumbledore, is that understood?"

Tom sighed. It couldn't be helped, "Yes, Headmaster. I understand. Good evening, Professors."

With that, he kept a hold of Luna's hand and the both of them left the Great Hall and instead of going back to their houses, they disappeared outside to sit just outside the doors of the castle. Luna spoke up, "Tom, if any of the Professors see us out here we'll both get into trouble and you'll get into even more trouble than you already are. Why did you bring me here?"

Tom stopped walking and turned around to face Luna and he held her face in his free hand, using his thumb to gently stroke her cheek, "Luna…my Luna…I don't know what it is that you've done to me, but somehow you've made me stronger."

Luna smiled and moved her face so that she could kiss his thumb, "I'm glad that at least one of us feels strong…"

Tom's eyebrows knitted together and he immediately knelt down and gazed into her silver eyes and saw tears starting to well up there, "Luna? What's wrong?"

Luna's air came out very shakily, "T-the girls in my house dormitory…they don't like me much."

Just as the giant bell began to tone for the first class of the day, Tom looked down and noticed that Luna's shoes were gone and she was only in her bare feet and as he looked her in the face again he noticed that her very cute radish earrings were also gone, "Luna, what happened? Where are your shoes and earrings?"

She shook her head and sighed, "It used to happen all the time back home. I would be foolish to think that just because I come to someplace different that this sort of thing would stop."

Tom's face filled with understanding and gave her hand a squeeze, "Luna…if there's anything you want me to do, then please, say the word. I want to help you out with these kinds of things…"

Luna shook her head, "No, Tom…this is something that no one can help me with, I assure you."

Feeling defeated he leaned down and found a couple of small rocks. With the wave of his wand he transfigured them into black mary-jane style flats. Luna tried them on and they fit perfectly, "Oh, Tom…thank you so much!"

He shrugged his shoulders, "It's the least I can do. I can't have you catching cold because a couple of nitwitted girls thought it'd be hilarious to steal your shoes."

Together, the couple went back inside the castle to face their angry professors for arriving late to the first day of classes after the Christmas holidays.


	6. Murphy's Law Anyone?

Disclaimer: I do not own Harry Potter or any of its characters. J.K. Rowling owns them. Please don't sue.

Author's Note: Yes. You're mad. All of my readers are very mad at me right now. I understand. There is no excuse except that I have had a good year's worth of writer's block. My job as a caregiver drained away a lot of my creativity and made writing very difficult for me these last several months. Just at the beginning of this year I began going to school for Massage Therapy! So that's a plus! A much better job that is going to be more like a career than a job and will, hopefully, give me the ability to retain my creativity. So, without further ado, I give you this sixth chapter to the story. I promise to make it especially long considering how long I didn't update for. I'm going to give it my best shot to update as much as I can, but with homework and everything, I can only do so much. So please, bear with me. My other story "A Flower In The Snow" is also on hiatus right now. I plan to get back to that one as well, but seeing as how more people seem to be interested in this story, I may just stick to this one for the time being. See if I can ever bring it to a nice close and THEN I will continue with my other story. Also, thank you all so much for the kind reviews and patience that I hope that you all have had. I again, apologize for the long wait. Thank you again for still loving my story and not giving up hope that I would update again.

To Zwart Wit – It's rated M just in case I decide to take their romance to the next level. Better to be safe than sorry, right? ^_^;;

Chapter 5 – Murphy's Law Anyone?

Classes during the first day were absolutely horrid. During Luna's first class, which was Potions, her lab partner decided that chopping off a strand of her hair and tossing it into the cauldron would be a funny prank but instead, the whole thing exploded, missed Luna entirely and ended up splashing all over the rude boy with messy black hair. The next class was Charms and she did fine in that class. She was the only person in the whole class who could charm her goblet so that it would sing her the Hogwarts school song. The last class of her day (Professor Dumbledore had given her only half days so that she could spend as much time as she possibly could with Tom in the hopes of changing the past and therefore the future) was Defense Against The Dark Arts. The two girls from her dormitory were in this class and they spent the whole time sitting behind her, talking about how ugly her hair was and how sickly she seemed because of her skin in 'hushed' voices that they knew full well that Luna could hear.

After Defense Against The Dark Arts was over, Luna gathered up her things and practically ran from the classroom, ran through the halls, bumped into several people and eventually found her way outside. She found a secluded hidden spot behind a statue somewhat close to the entrance and hid herself in the shadows and cried.

Things were horrible in this time period just like how they were horrible for her back in her real time. No one seemed to like her, everyone thought she was strange and therefore that seemed to give everyone the idea that she had no feelings so they just picked on her and would go so far as to steal her things.

There was no telling exactly how long she sat there sobbing behind the statue but eventually a warm hand was on her shoulder. The sudden physical contact made Luna snap her head up to see Tom's concerned face staring at her, "Luna, what happened? Why are you here like this?"

It took some time with Tom rubbing Luna's shaking back before she whispered, "Why can't anyone just accept me for who I am?"

Rage filled Tom's eyes, "Who was it, Luna?"

She raised her eyes and, after seeing the rage in Tom's eyes she raised her hands to cup both sides of his face, "Tom, please…don't hurt anyone because of me."

He reached up and took her small shaking hands within his strong almost iron-like, yet gentle grip, "Luna, if someone is responsible for making you like this, then I need to know about it. Please…" Tom's voice seemed to waver and became slightly more emotional, "Please, Luna. Please let me help you."

Silver eyes searched for something within the dark concerned eyes before she whispered, "If I tell you, will you please promise me that you wont hurt them…"

Tom nodded and when Luna spoke, his eyes flared red, "T-those…two girls that have been following me around talking to each other…"

He knew who these girls were. Once, between classes, he had passed Luna but had seen her upset face and two girls following her, smiles on their faces and talking to each other about something, "Luna, who are they, exactly? Are they in your house?"

She nodded, "Yes…I think they were the ones who stole my shoes and earrings."

Red seemed to replace Tom's normally dark eyes. Luna immediately moved herself so that she could embrace Tom, one hand behind his head and the other around his back, "Tom, please…you said that you wouldn't hurt anyone!"

After taking a couple very long and deep breaths, Tom returned Luna's embrace and held her as well, "I know…but just because I promised not to hurt anyone doesn't mean that I don't have a right to get angry."

Nodding, Luna began running her fingers through his hair, "I know that…but your anger scares me…you tend to lose control and when you lose control people get hurt…"

Anger filled red eyes flicked over and looked into Luna's steel-grey ones. Red slowly but surely turned back into a dark almost black color, "Luna…"

No more words were spoken as the couple sat next to the secluded statue holding each other.

A few weeks went by with Luna still getting teased, but whenever possible, Tom would come and hang out with Luna, or walk with her between her classes to make sure that people left her alone. One of Tom's friends/followers by the name of Abraxus Malfoy had become rather interested with Luna after realizing Tom's fondness with her. Lunch on a Friday afternoon went something like this:

"Tom," Abraxus was in between mouthfuls of food, "who exactly is that Lovegood girl? She just what," he waves his fork around, "shows up during Christmas holiday break and says she's from Ireland?"

After a mouthful of pumpkin juice, Tom sighed, "Yeah, that's what she told me. She's an interesting one."

Abraxus scoffed, "Yeah, that's for sure. Really talented for her age from what I understand. Can do charms that no one else in her year can do. Did you know that she performed a full bodied Patronus charm yesterday?"

Dark eyes widened and Tom's forkful of food fell back to his plate, "Really? I knew that she could do some pretty advanced charms and transfigurations but I had no idea she could do something so advanced."

A deep chuckle erupted from Abraxus' throat, "Gee. Some boyfriend you are, Riddle."

Tom's eyes narrowed into slits and he almost hissed back, "What makes you think that I'm her boyfriend? Who told you such a thing?"

He had wanted to keep the details of his relationship with Luna secret. Luna knew this and he had great trust in her. Tom desperately didn't want to doubt her but then how on earth did Abraxus get it into his head that he was Luna's boyfriend? Did he see something?

Abraxus looked taken aback, "No one had to tell me anything, Riddle. Good Merlin, it's written all over your face every time you look at the girl. Even a blind person could tell that you're infatuated with her."

This information caused Tom's normally pale skin to gain some color. He was so obvious with his feelings that Malfoy could tell…that would mean that several other people probably knew too. Tom absentmindedly looked around at the house tables including his own and realized that there were some girls looking at him with sad and jealous expressions, some of the boys had looks that almost seemed proud and some people were even looking in Luna's direction with a mixture of jealousy and anger. Tom covered his face with his hands, "Oh Gods…they know…" he turned his head to look at Abraxus who held an amused look on his pale and pointed features, "Does everyone in the school know?"

Malfoy shrugged his shoulders, "Pretty much. You're not that good at hiding things like this, huh?"

Tom stayed silent. The platinum blonde young man put an arm around Tom's shoulders and whispered in his ear, "You've never had a girlfriend before, have you Tom?"

Still holding his face in his hands, he shook his head no, "Well, then, " Malfoy patted him on the back before going back to his food, "if you want any help or advice, feel free to ask. I have girls all over me all the time. I'm sure I could help you out, but only if you ask for it, Riddle."

Tom stayed seated for a few more moments before standing up, grabbing his school bag and leaving the Great Hall. Luna had noticed Tom's quick exit so she finished up her lunch and skipped out the doors right after him. Once Luna was outside the doors, Tom came up and took one of her hands, "We need to talk, Luna."

Leading her by the hand he was seemingly taking Luna to her Charms class. After a few moments, Luna spoke up, "What did you want to talk about, Tom?"

Tom looked at Luna and noticed that her eyes were in that wide slightly glazed state. He chuckled to himself; at least she's still her old self, "Luna, did you know that almost everyone knows about us?"

Tilting her head to the side, Luna's eyes were still staring at Tom's handsome face, "No, I didn't. No one has said anything to me," she turned her unblinking gaze up to the ceiling as they kept walking towards the Charms classroom.

Tom rolled his eyes, "Well, just about the whole school knows…and Luna, please blink. That can't be good for your eyes."

Ever so slowly, Luna blinked her eyes before returning her silvery gaze back to Tom's face, "Tom, I need to know something."

Still walking, Tom gave her a confused look, "Of course. What do you need to know?"

"Do you love me, Tom?"

Tom gave her a concerned look, "What is this abo-"

"Do you love me?"

Silence then, "Yes…I do."

Nodding slowly, Luna closed her eyes slowly. They had stopped right in front of the Charms classroom, "Good…I need to tell you something once classes are over today. It might…take me the whole weekend but I need to tell you something," she opened her silver eyes and gazed peacefully into Tom's dark orbs, "Please…be patient with me?"  
The look upon Luna's face was one of pleading and love. The cold heart that Tom knew that he had melted away due to this one girl…this young woman who he barely knew. A genuine smile found its way onto Tom's face, "I'll do my best, Luna."

Luna leaned in and gave Tom a small gentle kiss. Tom returned it and not a few seconds later, a few gasps were heard. Tom and Luna's eyes flew open and they broke away from each other just in time to see several students that were all in Luna's Charms class staring at the couple, some in shock, some with anger in their eyes. Luna looked like a terrified rabbit and Tom looked furious, "Luna," Tom kept his gaze to the on-looking crowd and whispered, "get into the classroom. I'll be here when your class is over."

Nodding, Luna obeyed and turned around and skipped into the classroom. Tom folded his arms across his chest and glared at everyone around him. A good solid minute went by with absolute silence, Tom glaring at the students and all of the students staring at Tom. Finally, he lost it, "WHAT?!"

The sudden outburst shocked everyone into reality and they all shuffled into the classroom. Tom ran a hand through his hair, "Good. That's still working…"

Sighing, the young Slytherin stormed down the hallway to his Defense Against the Dark Arts class.

Luna was packing up her school things when a random girl with long black hair and a green headband approached her and smoothly knocked her books that were still on the desk in front of her to the floor with the back of her hand. Luna's head snapped up and stared into bright green eyes. She was silent. This seemed to only anger the dark haired girl further, "How dare you…"

A dreamy expression was planted onto Luna's face as she tilted her head, "May I help you?"

A loathing scowl appeared on the other girl's pale and slightly curved features, "Yes, you can. Stay away from Tom Riddle. He's _mine_, got it?" she put her face close to Luna's and growled at her, "I've been trying to get him to so much as look at me for the last three years and then you just waltz on in here with your…long blonde hair and pale skin and your…weirdness," she backed away and tossed her long hair behind her shoulder, "and all of a sudden, he's all over you."

Gulping slightly, Luna picked up her fallen books and stuffed them and the rest of her things hastily into her school bag and stood up, "I'm sorry…but Tom and I are friends. If you don't like it then don't. But just because you don't like something doesn't mean that it wont happen. I'm sorry that you feel that way but that's just how it is."

The dark haired girl looked furious at this point. Luna tried to turn and run away from the girl and make it out to door to Tom when the next thing she knew, Luna's face was hurdling toward the ground. A sickening twack noise could be heard as Luna's nose connected with the hard floor of the classroom, "Miss Wormwood! What has come over you!" came the sound of a young Prof. Flitwick's voice.

Luna moaned a little and tried to stand up but before the small goblin wizard could get anywhere near the other girl, Luna could feel her ribs crack slightly with the pressure of a hard kick to her midsection. This time, the normally cheerful blonde cried out in agony. Her cries were loud enough that a certain boy heard the commotion and came into the classroom, "What on earth is-…LUNA!"

The concerned face of Tom Riddle was looking down into Luna's most likely blood filled face. She could feel warm hands under her head and going under her knees in an attempt to pick her up. These were the last things that Luna saw before oblivion took her.

A/N: Now…I thought long and hard and I almost decided to stop the chapter here…but then I thought "Wait now…people have been waiting for a LONG time for me to finally update this story…so why not give them more?" So I decided to give you guys more ^_^ Enjoy the next part!

The smell hit her before anything else got the rest of her senses. All of the medical things and the smell of medicine gave the place away – she was in the medical wing. Luna tried to feel out what was around her before she opened her eyes. She tried to move her hands. One hand wasn't able to move much because it was being held by another person's hand. Her slight movement caused the hand holding hers to tighten slightly, "Luna? Are you awake?"

Silver eyes opened slowly and moved to where the warm, kind, and masculine voice was coming from. A smile graced over Luna's features at the sight of Tom…her Tom, "Hi."

He shook his head. Even though he had a small smile on his face, he had a very concerned look in his eyes, "Luna, how are you feeling?"

Just for his sake, she blinked and looked thoughtful, "I'm fine. Face kind of hurts and my sides hurt a little…but I'm fine otherwise. How long have I been here?"

Tom's small smile faded slightly, "About three hours. That girl that hurt you is in detention right now and facing some severe consequences. Unlucky for me, she's a Slytherin so my house just got docked 150 points…"

Luna's face fell, "I'm sorry, Tom."

A frown found itself upon Tom's face, "What are you apologizing for? You did nothing wrong, Luna."

Nodding a little, Luna smiled a little, "I still want to tell you something…but can I tell you when I'm not here anymore?"

Tom nodded in response and stood up and helped Luna into a sitting position, "We can leave now, actually. If you want, we can go someplace where no one can bother us?"

A look of curiosity found its way onto Luna's features, "That sounds lovely. Shall we go?"

He smiled in return and silently led her toward the doors to the medical wing. Once in the hallway, Tom led her around some corners and they eventually ended up in front of a wall. When they stopped, Luna tilted her head to the side and gazed dreamily at the wall, "Tom?"

Tom focused and spoke, "Luna, think of a place where we could go so that we can spend time together, just the two of us, alright?"

She nodded and started thinking of such a place. A few moments went by and then a door started to form in the wall. A very beautiful and ornate door became fully formed in the wall. Tom smiled and took Luna by the hand and led her through the door. Once inside, the door vanished and what was before Luna and Tom surprised Luna to the point where she actually gasped.

It was very much like a common room but the floors were hard wood and there were beautiful plush rubs placed randomly around the room and a fire was in a fireplace against one of the walls while there were couches around the room and there was a lovely chandelier hanging from the ceiling. Luna walked over to a small couch that was over by the fireplace and sat down and curled her legs underneath herself. Tom followed her and sat next to her and put an arm around her and rested his head on the top of hers, "Luna…I'm really sorry about what that girl did to you. That never should have happened."

Silver eyes rose to look up into Tom's face, "It wasn't your fault."

"What did she say to you, Luna?"

The girl looked thoughtful for a moment before replying in a soft voice, "She said that she's been trying to get you to pay attention to her for a few years and that she was jealous of me. She didn't want me to be around you anymore. I told her that I wouldn't do that so she must have tripped me and I hurt my face…I don't know what she did, but she did something to my ribs…" her voice became more cracked as she continued to talk.

Tom's grip on Luna tightened slightly, "I'm sorry, Luna. I failed to protect you."

The small girl wrapped her arms around him, "It's alright, Tom. It wasn't your fault."

Surrounded in their own bliss, the couple stayed together like that, holding each other. It seemed like hours before Luna finally broke the silence, "Tom?"

"Yes, Luna?"

Luna took a huge deep breath before continuing, "Tom…I need to tell you something and I want you to try to not be angry with me…I want you to be okay with this…"

His hold on Luna tightened, "Luna, please…if you aren't ready to tell me whatever it is that you need to tell me then just wait…you don't have to tell me no-"

"Tom, do you know what a Time-Turner is?"

Silence followed before Tom spoke, voice filled with an emotion that Luna could not place, "I do…but why are you asking me this?"

She swallowed hard, "Because…it's the reason why I'm here."

Luna was met with silence from the young man beside her. It felt like an eternity of her holding her breath and not blinking before her prayers were answered. Tom tightened his embrace with Luna and he spoke in a soft whisper, "I should feel betrayed…and I do a little," he moved his fingers under Luna's chin to bring her gaze up to meet his own, "but I'm not mad. I understand the logistics of Time-Turners and how dangerous their uses can be. In reality, you probably shouldn't have told me about this…this could have great repercussions."

Silver eyes searched Tom's dark ones, "I know that," her voice was soft and almost sad, "of course I know that. But I can't lie to you anymore. I can't because…"

A long delicate finger came up and was placed gently over Luna's lips, "That's enough," Tom removed his finger and placed his lips in its place.

Both of their eyes were closed in peaceful bliss, "Tom…I'm so sorry."

He held onto Luna and placed one hand behind her head and the other hand around her midsection, "I understand, Luna. It's alright, I'm not mad. You can tell me the rest of this later, okay? We really should head back to our houses before more gossip flies through the school."

Luna sniffled a bit and nodded. Tom used his thumbs and wiped away tears that were forming at the corners of her eyes. They shared one more kiss before Tom got up, helped Luna to her feet and then proceeded to leave the Room of Requirement.

A/N: I hope you all enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it! Please leave reviews – critical reviews if possible. The more help I get the better this story will turn out. Thanks guys!


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